HIGHLIGHTS FROM THIS WEEK’S PODCAST

This week, the show focuses on Brexit, now less than a year away. Guy Verhofstadt talks about his latest thinking, and we have a special feature that looks at the British expat community in Brussels. Michelle Stoddart goes behind the scenes at the Brussels Press Revue to reveal the humor, heartbreak and anguish over Brexit, expressed on-stage through the skits and songs of those who came to Brussels to build Europe, but now find themselves stranded by Brexit. In our “Dear Politico” reader advice section, we help a listener facing discrimination in her think tank.

**A message from Edelman Brussels and the Public Affairs Council: The landscape of trust in Europe is changing. After years at the top, the technology sector began to decline in the 2018 Trust Barometer, while the finance sector saw a 12 point gain in 2018. Struggling to earn trust in your sector? Get in touch via www.edelman.be/contact.**

ONE-ON-ONE

Guy Verhofstadt’s Brexit boost: If there’s one member of the European Parliament who is thriving on the Brexit process (rather than mourning it, or popping Champagne bottles) it’s Guy Verhofstadt, leader of the liberal ALDE group in Parliament, and the institution’s Brexit coordinator.

Put simply, this role gives Verhofstadt what he loves and uses most effectively — a platform and megaphone — without the formal burden of responsibility that rests on the shoulders of the EU’s Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, and national leaders.

The issue giving Verhofstadt the most traction is post-Brexit citizens’ rights. At first, he threw ideas at the wall to see if any would stick. (Associate citizenship of the EU, anyone?) Halfway through the British withdrawal negotiations, his work has settled into promoting a maximalist view of citizens’ rights for both British citizens and those from the EU27, and highlighting embarrassing decisions taken by the U.K. government in the cases of individual EU citizens seeking to formalize their U.K. status.

The next staging post is inviting the U.K. Home Office to present to the European Parliament their plan for ensuring “the procedure is an easy procedure and not a bureaucratic nightmare” for EU27 citizens seeking the “settled status” Theresa May is offering them.

Like many others, Verhofstadt thinks Ireland will be the most difficult issue to address, and he clings to the December 2017 agreement that Northern Ireland would maintain “regulatory alignment” with the Republic of Ireland if no other plan can be agreed on.

The strategic input that may bear the most Brexit fruit for Verhofstadt is his push for the EU and the U.K. to sign an “association agreement” to formalize their whole future relationship.

The main advantage is “you establish one governance of the relationship” — a streamlining that is not possible if the relationship is managed by parallel trade, security and other agreements.

Verhofstadt says he wants to avoid the “Swiss nightmare.” He complains that Switzerland’s relationship with the EU is governed by more than 100 agreements, while an association agreement with the U.K. — as Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova now have with the EU — would “take into account the red lines on the U.K. side and at the same time apply the principles of the European Union.”

The clock is ticking. By October, Verhofstadt says, “we need a concept, a vision” even if the full relationship takes years to finalize. Then there would be 26 months from October until the end of the Brexit transition period on December 31, 2020 to finalize the agreement.

Verhofstadt says he’ll be sad on the day less than a year from now that Britain leaves the EU. He says the EU still needs to learn lessons from Brexit and undertake major reforms, praising Frech President Emmanuel Macron’s Sorbonne speech. Could Macron link up with ALDE? Verhofstadt isn’t biting. “That’s for 2019,” he says.

Guy Verhofstadt spoke to POLITICO News Editor Andrew Gray.

TALK OF THE TOWN

Vestager’s fan club: Journalists were surprised to see security guards at European Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager’s most recent press conference. POLITICO reporter Nicholas Hirst was told by one Commission official that security is a “normal” precaution when a commissioner appears in the press room, while others suggested the security team were simply fans of Vestager’s work.

The new 3 a.m. phone call: It’s almost as if Martin Selmayr and his team (the Selmartyrs?) like being up at 3 a.m. First there were reports that Selmayr edited his own Wikipedia page at 3:45 a.m., then the Selmartyrs on Sunday stayed up until 3:04 a.m. to answer overdue parliamentary questions about the main man’s controversial promotion. The plus side of staying up so late is that if the EU ever receives one of those “3 a.m. phone calls” of United States election campaign lore, we can sleep peacefully knowing there will be a Selmartyr ready to answer.

Intern scammer warning: As previously covered on the EU Confidential podcast, a scammer or scammers is using the stolen identity card of a Parliament intern (Benjamin Oppermann) to lure interns into sending them €780 as a rent deposit for an apartment that doesn’t exist. We were contacted by another intern this week who learned he was a victim by listening to the podcast. The latest victim, like Oppermann, urges all other new arrivals in Brussels to be careful and to report the scam to authorities.

WE SPY …

Not fare: Taxis, below, blocking Rue Belliard (and the ring road tunnels!) on Tuesday as part of a strike over the legalization of Uber in Brussels.

Parking 58: The transformation of the iconic Parking 58 garage in central Brussels is underway. Built as a symbol of the city’s modernization for the 1958 World Expo, and later home to rooftop parties and romantic trysts, the building is being demolished to make way for a new administrative center.

Commissioner for walking: European Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc made the best of Tuesday’s taxi strike by walking the side streets of the EU quarter to get to her appointments.

WTF?!

EU countries and the U.S. showed their solidarity with the U.K. on Monday by kicking out Russian diplomats. “Additional measures, including further expulsions within this common EU framework, are not to be excluded in the coming days and weeks,” European Council President Donald Tusk said. New Zealand would have liked to join in — the only problem is, it can’t find any Russians to expel. “We have done a check in New Zealand. We don’t have Russian undeclared intelligence officers here,” New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on radio station RNZ Tuesday. “If we did, we would expel them.”

COFFEE AND BAR TIPS

Arket, better known as a Scandi fashion chain, now has the best value proper coffee in town — with a range of barista coffees under €3, at Toison d’Or.

Brussels’ newest cocktail bar — Arthur Orlans — is a hidden gem where you have to buzz to be admitted. Rue Antoine Dansaert 67.

TOP WEEKEND READS FROM ELSEWHERE

**A message from Edelman Brussels and the Public Affairs Council: The 2018 Trust Summit showed us very clearly that there is a major trust deficit in Europe. The findings of the Edelman Trust Barometer show that Businesses have the opportunity to take center stage. 59 percent of respondents expected CEOs to take the lead on the issues that matter. Silence is no longer an option. NGOs, governments and media have all fallen behind business across Europe; but each institution faces its own set of challenges. If you want to discuss the results in more detail, visit www.edelman.be/contact to arrange a meeting.**